Ryanair executives must have breathed a sigh of relief when the September figures revealed that passenger numbers jumped 5%.

This brought the total number of people flying with the budget carrier to 8.5 million, up from 8.1 million last September.

The search continued this morning, Thursday, for a man who disappeared into the sea from the beach of Monte Clérigo, Aljezur.

Yesterday afternon’s search failed to find the man, according to the captain of the port of Lagos, Commander Carvalho Pinto.

“My name is Jon, I am 30 years old and a chef from eastern Scotland... I have a lot of hospitality experience in kitchens and also in bar work as well as general hotel experience.”

That is how Jon Anderson Edwards introduced himself on a ‘workaway’ information website, which he last logged into on 12 September, just before he went missing in the Algarve.

Police in the Algarve today announced that officers have arrested a 55-year old Dutchman suspected of running an international prostitution service from a villa in Boliquieme, Algarve.

The police said that the man was wanted by the French police for crimes relating to prostitution in several European cities, money laundering and conspiracy. An International Arrest Warrant had been issued by the French judiciary and was acted on by the local Portguese force.

The controversial closure of a pedestrian level crossing in Olhão has caused upset, annoyance and disappointment for locals as their elected politicians until now have appeared inept and impotent when dealing with overpowering national bodies such as the railway company Refer.

The closure "for no good reason" of a pedestrian crossing across the railway line near Olhão station has forced people to use a long, narrow underpass which elderly already are having difficulty in successfully navigating as it narrows to 1 metre making passage difficult and at times dangerous.

Owners of homes that have been designated as illegal dwellings on Praia de Faro have been notified to leave them before they are knocked down, or be charged for the demolition.

Letters have been sent to the 120 homes that have been deemed illegal. Polis Litoral Ria Formosa have informed the fishermen that they have until November 28th to clear their belongings and leave.

The goodwill invasion of Spain is over and the Portuguese neighbour was conquered by the caravel ‘Boa Esperança’ which already is safely anchored back in the Algarve.

The ship sailed this sumer from Lagos to various ports in Andalusia on a promotional campaign that promoted the best of the Algarve to Spanish council luminaries, local businesses, the Spanish public and foreigners on holiday in Spain.

J Sainsbury is struggling to accommodate changing shopping habits in Britain.

Its new CEO, Mike Coupe, said: "The supermarket industry has changed more rapidly in the last three to six months than any time in my thirty years in the industry."